History of San Jose Earthquakes in Timeline

The San Jose Earthquakes are a professional soccer club based in San Jose, California, competing in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established in 1996 as one of the league's charter members (originally known as the San Jose Clash), the Earthquakes participated in the inaugural MLS game, winning against D.C. United. The team has won two MLS Cup titles and two Supporters' Shields. They made their CONCACAF Champions Cup debut in 2002, reaching the quarterfinals. A notable aspect of the Earthquakes is their rivalry with the LA Galaxy, known as the California Clásico.

2000: Team rebranded to the Earthquakes

In 2000, the San Jose team rebranded to the Earthquakes. The new team badge featured a triangular shield with a soccer ball, the city's rising sun logo, the 'Earthquakes' wordmark, and a color palette of blue, black, white, and silver. The three points of the shield symbolized San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland.

December 2002: Anschutz Entertainment Group took ownership of San Jose Earthquakes

In December 2002, the Anschutz Entertainment Group (owner of the Los Angeles Galaxy) took sole ownership of the San Jose Earthquakes, intensifying the California Clásico rivalry.

January 13, 2007: Negotiations to build a new soccer stadium

On January 13, 2007, the San Jose Mercury News reported that the city of San Jose, San Jose State University and the Earthquakes owners were in negotiations to build a soccer stadium just east of the Earthquakes' previous home, Spartan Stadium.

June 12, 2007: San Jose City Council voted to explore construction of a new stadium

On June 12, 2007, the San Jose City Council voted unanimously to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to explore construction of a new stadium near San Jose International Airport to bring MLS back to San Jose.

June 2008: First payment on the new stadium land

In June 2008, the first payment of $3 million was made on the new stadium land for the San Jose Earthquakes.

August 2, 2009: Earthquakes won the inaugural Heritage Cup

On August 2, 2009, the San Jose Earthquakes won the inaugural Heritage Cup on goals scored after a 4–0 home victory over Seattle Sounders FC.

September 19, 2009: Preliminary designs for Earthquakes Stadium released

On September 19, 2009, the preliminary designs for Earthquakes Stadium were released to the public. The stadium was planned as a three-sided European-style venue with 18,000 permanent seats and a grass berm at the open end.

March 16, 2010: San Jose city council voted to rezone property for new Earthquakes Stadium

On March 16, 2010, the San Jose City Council voted 9-0 to rezone the Airport West property to allow for the development of the new Earthquakes Stadium.

April 26, 2010: Mascot Q featured on KNTV

On April 26, 2010, the Earthquakes mascot Q was one of three mascots featured on KNTV, along with San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie and San Jose Giants mascot "Gigante".

2013: Quakes had 5,000 season ticket holders

At the beginning of 2013, the San Jose Earthquakes had 5,000 season ticket holders, and although revenues had been increasing, the Quakes stadium did not allow them to generate sufficient revenues to be profitable.

January 30, 2014: Team Rebranded with New Crest and Uniform

On January 30, 2014, the San Jose Earthquakes rebranded with a new crest and uniform. The design retained blue and black colors and included a chevron pattern to represent the team's geologic theme. It also featured the year 1974 in red, referencing the team's NASL history.

February 28, 2015: Earthquakes hosted the first event at the new stadium

On February 28, 2015, The Earthquakes hosted its first event at the new stadium, a friendly, pre-season match against LA Galaxy.

March 22, 2015: Official Opening of Avaya Stadium

The official opening of Avaya Stadium took place on March 22, 2015, when the Earthquakes hosted Chicago Fire for their first home game of the 2015 MLS regular season. Fatai Alashe scored the first official, regular-season goal at Avaya in the fifth minute of the 2–1 victory.

February 17, 2017: San Jose released new home kit

On February 17, 2017, San Jose Earthquakes released its new home kit at a jersey release party at San Pedro Square. The new kit is black, a callback to the black Goonies kits of the historic 2012 season, and features the blue slipstrike design from the crest on the front. Also included is a red neck tape, referring again to the team's NASL history, "SJ 74" in blue on the bottom left corner, and the words "UNITY", "DEVOTION", and "HERITAGE" written in white across the blue border on the right sleeve.

February 11, 2018: Earthquakes released new away kit, the Navy SEAL Foundation Jersey

On February 11, 2018, the Earthquakes released their new away kit, the Navy SEAL Foundation Jersey, and announced that 5% of each jersey sale would be donated to the Foundation, becoming the first club in MLS history to donate part of its jersey revenue to a nonprofit organization.

2018: MLS Wooden Spoon

The San Jose Earthquakes received the MLS Wooden Spoon in 2018.

2023: Earthquakes games broadcast on 810 KGO

From 2023, all Earthquakes games are broadcast in English on 810 KGO, featuring Ted Ramey as the play-by-play announcer, and former Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon as the color analyst.